So, long story short (over the past two years), is that my HOA made me move my oven about 25 feet across my yard. I had permissions originally, and it had been in place for a year, but never underestimate the power of an HOA. The first picture shows the general area of the two sites. The first is the back right area of the photo, the bottom left is the second (new) location of the oven.

So, I poured the completed patio and established the new site for the oven, and then made some design changes on the stand (two storage areas with a horizontal divider... very happy with that versus the single "cave" I had with the original design). I then took the old 42" oven apart brick by brick, labeling each with a course/position number. I then reassembled the oven on the new stand, and transferred my original metal framing / cement board to the new oven. Pictures make the framing look a bit worse than it was, but I will admit I was concerned. However, the end result came out just like he promised... straight edges and far better than I could have hoped to have done on my own.

I was going to rebuild the framing, but a friend of mine is a mason and convinced me that he just needed a rough form to work from. So, here are the build and finish pictures of that process.

I also have a sloped yard, so the path to my backyard goes up two "tiers", with limestone block walls. To get the electric and water to the site I had to tear down those walls and put them back up again. Not a lot of fun!

The first photo shows those tiers. Turns out the ground underneath was 4" of dirt, then pure limestone as well. I had to rent an air hammer and chisel out limestone to reach the 12" of line depth required.

The final picture is the view from our kitchen window area.

I still need to figure out the pergola or patio cover. I would LOVE a groin vault, even better brick like a Catalan roof (I used to live in Barcelona and fell in love with those brick ceilings). Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any masons here who are confident they can built that type of a structure. So, I may try to replicate in dark cedar...

Anyways, its been a fun adventure so far and I am really anxious to get this thing wrapped up. Its been a 2 year journey at this point.

Why did the HOA take issue? Should be none of their business what you do on your property. We have the township permit office to deal with. They only care about two things, (1) your foundation footers go down 3 feet, and (2) your check clears.

A neighbor complained about smoke. I offered to convert it to propane and that's when it came out that the neighbor didn't like where it was in my yard. Ultimately I had no choice but to move it. The neighbor has since moved as well.

There are roughly 57 million Americans under direct control of HOA's, which have been granted unchecked authority to act as 'mini-governments'. Unfortunately, HOA's act largely without any kind of oversight and wield the power to foreclose on 'members' who get behind on HOA dues.

HOA's were originally created to enforce strict adherence to property upkeep and design consistency in order to maintain property values. They do not, however, possess the power to enforce anything in backyards. When an HOA board member recently approached me suggesting he'd like to look into my backyard I smiled and said not on your life.

A neighbor complained about smoke. I offered to convert it to propane and that's when it came out that the neighbor didn't like where it was in my yard. Ultimately I had no choice but to move it. The neighbor has since moved as well.

Wow...... There are so many things about your story that make me sick to my stomach, most of which is you neighbor but then there's the HOA. I believe that mentality personifies what is going wrong with our society. I know its easier said "or typed" then done, but I would have moved. Glad your getting things back to normal.

I was upset at the situation, to be sure. However, HOAs have very broad powers. I did have lawyers look at this, and it was bleak. The HOA forces arbitration first, and if you lose you have to pay all legal costs. At the end of the day, this was the least expensive option for me.

I do personally believe I could have won, but it was not worth the risk. HOA wanted it completely gone and I still have it, so compromise on both sides. My neighbor ended up moving as well, so they obviously felt very strongly about it as well. Im happy with the oven and how it all came out. I can't imagine why it's an eye sore, but I guess it was to one person.

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